1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a light bar for use on the exterior of emergency vehicles. The light bar is comprised of an elongate base that is mounted across the width of an emergency vehicle exterior. The base provides a versatile mounting platform for primary visual and audible warning devices as well as providing a mounting platform for other types of equipment such as secondary visual and audible devices, optical devices, cameras, weather monitoring equipment, GPS devices, preemption devices, running lights and other devices that have been traditionally mounted on an emergency vehicle roof and/or other exterior surface areas of the emergency vehicle. The light bar is versatile in both allowing many different devices to be selectively mounted and adjustably positioned on the base, and in also facilitating the electrical wiring and servicing of the different devices mounted on the base.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of a light bar on the exterior of an emergency vehicle can be traced back to the early 1970's. The typical light bar construction includes an extruded frame or tubular member supporting one or more optical signaling devices. Light bars of this type have been used on emergency vehicles by mounting the frame or tubular member to the roof or top of the vehicle with the light bar extending substantially across the entire width of the vehicle. Over the years, light bars have been designed in different shapes and with different features, but the basic construction of a light bar having a tubular frame with one or more optical signaling devices mounted on the frame has not changed.
Within the area of fire and rescue emergency vehicles, new equipment required or desired on the exteriors of the vehicles has created a need for a new light bar. The roles and demands of modern fire fighting services require more equipment to be mounted on the exterior of emergency vehicles, and particularly on the roofs of the emergency vehicles.
Examples of some of the new equipment desired on emergency vehicles include brow or roof perimeter mounted scene lights; remote controlled spotlights; and high performance side lights. Lights and other devices of this type have been traditionally mounted directly to the roofs of the vehicles. For a time, roof mounting these devices sufficed. However, with the interiors of newer emergency vehicles having forward-deploying air bags and side-deploying air bags that are enclosed inside the roof structure in the area of the roof perimeter, mounting devices on the exterior of the roof perimeter by drilling holes for mounting fasteners presented the problem of the drilling and/or fasteners potentially interfering with air bag deployment systems as well as potentially detracting from the vehicle cab structural integrity. In addition, individually mounting each of the required and/or desired devices to the emergency vehicle exterior would require an increasing installation time for the increasing number of individual devices.